Advertising PR

Typically advertising and public relations are considered two separate entities; however they do go hand-in-hand. Advertising PR focuses on creating advertisements and gaining new clients through various media formats including radio, television, and internet.  Generally public relations (PR) create press releases and work on contacting the media to create interest in a company, service, or product. A PR department will have a list of media contacts they typically use to help generate buzz about a company, service, or product. Advertising PR is usually not as apparent as it is with PR specialists that work for politicians, entertainer, and sports teams. Corporations usually have two separate entities for PR and for advertising.

A PR department must keep track of how often they are mentioned in the press. Usually the entry-level PR specialists are in charge of news clippings and count the number of times a company, service, or product is mentioned in the news. Several companies hire PR firms to handle their advertising PR needs. While advertisers tend to focus on spreading the word about a product and getting people to purchase it, PR agents do this and they also focus on any repercussions that may come from a faulty product or service. A PR agent must turn a poor situation into a positive one and find a way to show the company in a good manner versus a negative one. It is their job to make decisions on helping the victims of failure and create strategies to creating buyer confidence for the future.

Advertising PR will also find ways to expose the company to its target audience through the radio, television, newspapers, magazines, internet, and billboards. Advertising tends to focus on targeting everyone, while advertising PR realizes that there is a specific target audience for the company, product, or service. Advertising PR will strategize to find ways to reach the target audience while still gaining exposure for the company. 

Advertising PR will work closely with the marketing department to send the correct message to the target audience. The marketing strategy must align with the PR strategy if new clients are to be reached and the reputation of the company is to grow. Depending upon the industry, marketing may tie in closely with sales. The target audience could be broad, but the main goal is to reach the target audience through various advertisements and PR strategies and provide them with a quality product. In order for advertising PR to work successfully, it must be broken into several parts:

• The creative department - This department is responsible for creating the advertisements and making them interesting. The creative department must create the initial ads and designs and pitch them to the advertising PR department. Typically art directors and copywriters are hired to work in the creative department and design the initial design. Some companies leave an advertising PR agent on the design team to help the creative department understand the message they are trying to convey to the target audience.
  

• Media Relations - Typically the PR department will handle all media relations including press releases, speaking events, articles, and journalistic interviews. Advertising PR needs to have a media relations department to handle not only the general PR work, but it must also include billboard research, search engine optimization, direct mail targeting, and other advertising methods. The media relations department will be in charge of determining where to place an advertisement that will reach the target audience. The media relations department will determine what advertising outlets are available to purchase and which ones will reach their target audience.
  
• Production - Another area advertising PR will touch is the production department. If the PR strategy wants to use commercials to reach their target audience, they must work with the production department to create radio and television advertisements. Production is in charge of the finished product and they will have numerous graphic designers and artists to help you reach your target audience. Some companies hire out their production needs and work with these companies on a pay-per-job basis. Finding a good production company can be frustrating for many companies that have graphic designers with their own idea in mind. The best option is to allow the designer to assist in finding the production company so you can find one that will work with them.

Advertising PR will take time to create. A company will need to spend countless hours doing target research, advertising research, and sales research. It is essential for advertising PR reps to know practically every detail of the company. Since PR agents generally produce the press releases, they are in charge of providing truthful information to the media and encouraging them to run a story on a product, service, or company. PR focuses on managing the relationships between various departments and individuals. PR also works on establishing and maintaining positive relationships with clients, investors, and competitors. Without PR, it will be almost impossible for a company to network and maintain a positive image to its consumers and investors. Generating information for investors is a big part of advertising PR because these individuals provide needed funds to a business to help it stay in business.

Advertising PR agents must have excellent communication skills, written and oral. Advertising PR focuses on influencing their target audience to purchase a product or service and thoroughly understand what they are purchasing. Advertising PR agents must demonstrate the ability to have critical thinking skills and data analysis. Most individuals in the advertising PR field have a bachelor's degree in communication, advertising, or public relations. Several individuals in advertising PR also have degrees in art or other creative work. Since these individuals are in charge of writing and preparing the artwork and slogan for a campaign, they must be creative and willing to receive criticism from others. These individuals must also be open to outside suggestions if a campaign fails.

Outside companies that handle advertising PR are called advertising agencies. These firms handle everything for a business including: preparing the ad, designing the ad, writing the ad, and placing the ad on television, radio, internet, magazines, and in newspapers. Advertising agencies have several media contacts and are able to design an advertisement for a target audience and have it reach them within a few days. Several advertising agencies include public relations services as well. Advertising firms tend to have a specific target area they work with such as billboard advertising, internet advertising, aerial advertising, circulars, and several others.

Internet advertising PR focuses on creating electronic ads to be displayed on web sites where the target audience frequents. The goal of online advertising PR is to drive traffic back to the web site of the company. Search engine optimization, email marketing, pay-per click marketing, and banner advertising are a few popular methods of internet advertising PR. PR specialists browse the search engines for information on their company, service, or product and respond to faulty information. For example, if a company is advertising for a political campaign and untrue information is found on the internet, it is their job to respond to this information with the truth. Political campaigns often use radio, internet, and television ads to respond to faulty information to make sure their target audience obtains the correct information.

Other forms of advertising PR include polls, and online gimmicks. Anything that attracts attention to the web site of the company is considered advertising PR. When individuals reach the web site, it is the job of advertising PR agents to make sure they can find the information they need quickly. The standard for most web sites is to make a user click at least one link on the web site. If a company is able to obtain the standard, their web site is considered user-friendly. Advertising PR not only looks for ways to build the reputation of a company, but it also finds ways to boost sales and increase the public exposure of a company.

The press releases issued by advertising PR agents must be interesting and written from a journalistic perspective. Journalists are inclined to print a press release that has compelling information and doesn't require a lot of work on their part. A good advertising PR agent will have several media contacts and expertise in numerous fields. Since advertising PR ties in with marketing, several companies combine the departments instead of treating them like separate entities. While they do have numerous similarities, it is important to remember that they have different focuses and perspectives. Typically smaller companies do not have separate departments for advertising PR and standard PR. Larger firms and government organizations often recognize the importance of the different departments and allot money to both areas.

Advertising PR can work wonders when there is a public crisis. Advertising PR agents will devise strategies to help the company maintain a proper public image and generate a "buzz" about the company, service, or product. Since advertising PR is harder to achieve for businesses, public relations firms and advertising firms are often hired separately to work together to help a company attain the public image and revenue they are seeking.